Built between the 1860s and 1870s, the grand villa known as Invermay has historic significance due to its connection to the Gow family, who were amongst one of the earliest and more prominent Pākehā settlers on the Taieri Plain. Constructed of poured concrete, it has technological significance as an early example of a residence constructed in this medium.
Kāi Tahu ki Otago used all areas of the Taieri Plain as evidenced by the hundreds of mahika kai sites associated with the numerous waterways, lakes and wetlands in the area which was one of the most significant food baskets of the Otago region. An important route, referred to by J. H. Beattie as a ‘Maori track’, passed through the area. In July 1844, the Otago Purchase, negotiated by Frederick Tuckett, was signed at Kōpūtai / Port Chalmers. This agreement alienated a large areas of land around Dunedin in European hands.
Occupation of the Taieri by Pākehā picked up from the 1840s; settlers from this time included the Jaffrey family. This may have been the ‘Jeffreys’ family that are noted as owning the land in 1852. In that same year, this parcel was sold to a William Love. Within 3 months, Love sold the parcel on to James & John Gow. The Gow family would own this parcel for over 100 years. The Gows were originally from Dunkeld, in Perthshire; they sailed to New Zealand on the Agra, landing in 1852. They were living at the site, and calling it “Invermay”, since at least the mid- to late-1850s; a newspaper article of 1856 reports the birth ‘At Invermay, East Taieri’ of a son to ‘Mr John Gow.’
Daphne Lemon notes that their first home was ‘a sod cottage’, later replaced by a ‘sun-dried brick’ residence, situated ‘on the present lawn [while] they watched their third house being built; Lemon indicates that the third house was built in 1862 and is the current building on the property; however, it is likely that this building was constructed in the 1870s; this would make the homestead a particularly early example of domestic construction in this medium. She indicates that the original slate flooring of the kitchen came over with the family in 1852, as part of the ballast of the Agra ‘but has since been removed to the area around the clothes line.’
Subsequent generations of Gows held Invermay and the associated lands until 1956, when it was acquired by the University of Otago; the house was used for accommodation. The use of this site as an agricultural research station had been mooted as early as 1949. The majority of research work has since been undertaken nearby, to the east of the homestead. Until 1970 the homestead was occupied by the Director of the Animal Breeding Station. The majority of the late-20th century buildings on the land were constructed as part of this use; these included the construction of stables for the Animal Breeding Station, later renovations, and extensions to these facilities. There were also upgrades to the residence in 1979. When Lois Galer visited the site, in the late-20th century, she noted that ‘many of the original [interior] fittings remain, like the sculpted plaster roses around the centre lights…the delicately turned balustrade and the old panelled doors’.
In 2013 the Government announced a winding down of operations at the Invermay AgResearch centre, a decision that caused much consternation locally. As of 2020, research still appears to be being undertaken at the Invermay complex, under a subsidiary or associate company of the University of Otago: Disease Research Limited. The current use of the homestead is unknown.
Kāi Tahu ki Otago used all areas of the Taieri Plain as evidenced by the hundreds of mahika kai sites associated with the numerous waterways, lakes and wetlands in the area which was one of the most significant food baskets of the Otago region. An important route, referred to by J. H. Beattie as a ‘Maori track’, passed through the area. In July 1844, the Otago Purchase, negotiated by Frederick Tuckett, was signed at Kōpūtai / Port Chalmers. This agreement alienated a large areas of land around Dunedin in European hands.
Occupation of the Taieri by Pākehā picked up from the 1840s; settlers from this time included the Jaffrey family. This may have been the ‘Jeffreys’ family that are noted as owning the land in 1852. In that same year, this parcel was sold to a William Love. Within 3 months, Love sold the parcel on to James & John Gow. The Gow family would own this parcel for over 100 years. The Gows were originally from Dunkeld, in Perthshire; they sailed to New Zealand on the Agra, landing in 1852. They were living at the site, and calling it “Invermay”, since at least the mid- to late-1850s; a newspaper article of 1856 reports the birth ‘At Invermay, East Taieri’ of a son to ‘Mr John Gow.’
Daphne Lemon notes that their first home was ‘a sod cottage’, later replaced by a ‘sun-dried brick’ residence, situated ‘on the present lawn [while] they watched their third house being built; Lemon indicates that the third house was built in 1862 and is the current building on the property; however, it is likely that this building was constructed in the 1870s; this would make the homestead a particularly early example of domestic construction in this medium. She indicates that the original slate flooring of the kitchen came over with the family in 1852, as part of the ballast of the Agra ‘but has since been removed to the area around the clothes line.’
Subsequent generations of Gows held Invermay and the associated lands until 1956, when it was acquired by the University of Otago; the house was used for accommodation. The use of this site as an agricultural research station had been mooted as early as 1949. The majority of research work has since been undertaken nearby, to the east of the homestead. Until 1970 the homestead was occupied by the Director of the Animal Breeding Station. The majority of the late-20th century buildings on the land were constructed as part of this use; these included the construction of stables for the Animal Breeding Station, later renovations, and extensions to these facilities. There were also upgrades to the residence in 1979. When Lois Galer visited the site, in the late-20th century, she noted that ‘many of the original [interior] fittings remain, like the sculpted plaster roses around the centre lights…the delicately turned balustrade and the old panelled doors’.
In 2013 the Government announced a winding down of operations at the Invermay AgResearch centre, a decision that caused much consternation locally. As of 2020, research still appears to be being undertaken at the Invermay complex, under a subsidiary or associate company of the University of Otago: Disease Research Limited. The current use of the homestead is unknown.
